I dare you to stop at one of these lemon poppy seed donuts – they are lighter than air and packed to the brim with a not-too-sweet lemon cream filling. Poppy seeds throughout the dough and a lemon sugar coating takes them to the next level!
Donuts are fab – every time I visit a new city (which is frequently with my job) I seek out a local donut joint. There’s just so much flavor packed into a little container and you can justify them for any time of day.
Unlike these baked strawberry jelly donuts, these classic fried donuts are simply stunning with a bright lemon center. But I won’t pretend they are super duper quick and simple. Donuts are a labor of love! If you are looking for a quick lemon dessert try these lemon thyme shortbreads or lemon crinkle crinkles as an alternate!
Ingredients
These lemon donuts have two main components – the donut dough and the lemon pastry cream. The good news is, they have a lot of overlapping ingredients between the two making grocery shopping a bit easier!
I won’t go through all the standards, like granulated sugar and vanilla, but the highlights of the ingredients are below.
Donut Dough
- All-purpose flour. I prefer all-purpose flour over bread flour in my donuts. Even though typically when I knead dough I want high gluten, for donuts I want them to be super soft and light.
- Active dry yeast. Instant yeast will work as well, but you can whisk the yeast into the flour and skip the initial fermentation.
- Whole milk, egg yolks and butter. Donuts are an “enriched” dough meaning they include extra ingredients to make them softer and richer – like milk, eggs and butter!
- Poppy seeds. These are optional, but makes a nice little surprise when biting into the lemon donuts.
Pastry Cream
- Whole milk and heavy cream. A combination of the two gives us a richer cream
- Egg yolks. As they cook, they will thicken the custard
- Cornstarch. There’s a debate on the best way to thicken pastry creams, some demand only the egg yolks, others like flour. Personally, when I want to avoid a big splat of cream when biting into a donut, cornstarch is the way!
What about the egg whites?
This recipe uses only egg yolks, but the good news is, egg whites can be stored in the fridge for up to two days and used for other purposes. They can also be frozen! I like to store mine up in the freezer for the next time I make coffee meringues, angel food cake or Swiss meringue buttercream.
Making Donuts
Donut dough is thankfully not too tricky to make. The most complicated part is the frying process. How to make the best donut dough?
Limit the flour. This dough is a bit on the sticky side for kneading. A wetter dough will make for a lighter finished donut. Use the finest amount of flour you can. I like to use a plastic bowl scraper to help move the dough around.
Knead until windowpane stage. Keep kneading until you can stretch a piece of dough thin enough to see light through. This is called the windowpane test.
Allow to rise. Give the donuts time to rise, but overproofing will cause them to collapse when frying. Keep an eye on them!
Cut precisely. If the donuts are different thicknesses when cutting, they will cook at different times. Avoid getting any thick ones so you don’t end up with uncooked dough.
Frying Donuts
Frying can be intimidating, but if you set yourself up for success and have everything at the ready, it’s not nearly as scary as it may seem.
Below is how I set up my frying station, if you follow these guidelines, you will have everything you need for a great fry! From there, keep an eye on the time and temperature of the oil, and you will be all set.
Setting up a Frying Station
- Have a kitchen towel or paper towels nearby for wiping hands.
- Keep a timer or stopwatch out (I use my phone).
- Prepare a large, wide Dutch oven (preferable) with a candy thermometer on a burner closest to your countertop. The candy thermometer will sit in the oil as you work and makes it easy to monitor the temperature. Keep the lid handy too in case of emergencies.
- On the nearby countertop, have a cooling rack sitting over a paper towel, the bowl of lemon sugar for coating, a small bowl to catch the parchment paper squares the donuts rise on, and a little dish to rest your utensils while not in use.
- Gather your utensils. I use a pair of metal tongs to remove the parchment paper and for flipping the donuts and a spider skimmer to remove the donuts. You can also use a large slotted spoon, but you will have to drain more carefully.
Pastry Cream
I go through all the details of making a pastry cream in my other recipe post. It’s the same classic recipe I use here, but we will add some lemon zest and juice for our lemon flavor!
Frequently Asked Questions
It can take 5-10 minutes for the yeast to froth. If it doesn’t froth, your yeast may be dead. It could be the yeast was already expired, or the milk was too hot and killed it. If the yeast doesn’t froth at all after 15 minutes, start over with fresh yeast.
This donut dough is very sticky. Only add very thin layers of flour to the counter as you knead as necessary, less flour the better. Use a plastic bench scraper to assist.
Dunk warm donuts fresh out of the oil into the sugar. Once donuts cool the sugar will not stick. If needed, melted butter can be brushed onto donuts and then dipped into the sugar.
Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts
Equipment
- 5+ quart Dutch oven or similar
- Bismark filling piping tip
Ingredients
Lemon Pastry Cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 50 g granulated sugar divided
- 2 large egg yolks
- 18 g cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon butter cubed
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- Zest of 1 lemon
Poppy Seed Donut Dough
- ⅔ cup whole milk
- 7 g active dry yeast 1 packet
- 240 g all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 50 g granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 quarts canola or vegetable oil for frying
Lemon Sugar
- 100 g granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Lemon pastry cream. Make pastry cream in advance to allow to chill completely before filling the donuts.
- In a small saucepan with a handle, combine milk, heavy cream and 1/2 of the granulated sugar. Warm over medium heat.1 cup whole milk, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 50 g granulated sugar
- When milk starts to steam, whisk other 1/2 of the granulated sugar in egg yolks in a separate large heat-proof bowl. Whisk in cornstarch.50 g granulated sugar, 2 large egg yolks, 18 g cornstarch
- Once milk starts to simmer, temper the eggs to avoid overcooking by gently raising the temperature. While whisking continuously, pour about 1 tablespoon of the simmering milk into the egg yolks. Once combined, add another tablespoon. Continue adding a tablespoon of milk at a time, while whisking, until about 1/2 of the milk is incorporated. Then, slowly stream in the remaining milk.
- Return mixture to the saucepan and set back on medium heat. Slowly stir while mixture thickens, being sure to scrape the edges of the pot. Allow mixture to bubble for 1 minute while stirring to cook out cornstarch.
- Remove from heat and stir in salt, butter, lemon juice and zest. Transfer to a clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap pressing plastic right to the surface of the cream to avoid a skin. Chill until ready to use.1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 tablespoon butter, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, Zest of 1 lemon
- Donut dough. In a small saucepan, heat milk to 95 – 105°F (35 – 40°C). Remove from heat, stir in yeast and let sit until frothy, about 5 minutes.2/3 cup whole milk, 7 g active dry yeast
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk together flour, poppy seeds, sugar, and salt.240 g all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons poppy seeds, 50 g granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- When milk is ready, stir into flour mixture along with melted butter, egg yolks and vanilla extract. When fully combined, cover bowl with a clean towel and let rest for 10 minutes.3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 large egg yolks, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead with floured hands until dough is soft and elastic, passing the windowpane test, 10-15 minutes. Use a plastic bowl scraper to help move dough to avoid adding too much additional flour. Dough will be quite sticky at first.
- Shape dough into a ball and place in a large greased bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with clean kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 – 1 1/2 hours.
- Once risen, punch out gas from dough and place on lightly floured surface. Roll to 1/2" thick sheet. Cut out 2.5" donut rounds. Re-roll scraps once to cut additional donuts.
- Place each donut on a parchment square about 3×3" in size and set on sheet pan. Cover with towel and let rise for 1 hour and donuts are about 50% larger.
- Frying & filling. While donuts are rising, prepare fryer station as noted in post and begin heating oil to 350°F (175°C). Prepare sugar coating by rubbing lemon zest into sugar and set in a small bowl near stove.2 quarts canola or vegetable oil, 100 g granulated sugar, Zest of 1 lemon
- Frying in small batches to not overcrowd the pot, use the parchment paper to lift and slide the donuts into the pot. Parchment will release when it hits the oil and can be removed with a pair of tongs. Keeping the temperature between 340 – 360°F (170 – 180°C) fry donuts until golden brown on each side, about 1 – 1 1/2 minutes on each side.
- Use a skimmer or slotted spoon to remove donuts from oil and set on cooling rack. Quickly coat warm donuts in lemon sugar and set aside to cool completely while frying all batches donuts.
- Once donuts are completely cooled, use a small knife to cut a slit in the side to the center of each donut. Remove pastry cream from fridge and whip to loosen. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a Bismark pastry tip. Insert to the cut slits and fill each donut with cream.
Notes
- Pastry cream can be made up to 2 days in advance. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.
- Donuts are best the day of. Store leftovers in the fridge.
- Fryer oil can be used up to 3 times. Strain completely cooled oil through a fine mesh strainer to remove any crumbs. Store in the original container or in an airtight container.
Disclaimer: We test all recipes using the metric weights shown, we cannot guarantee outcomes when switching to US measurements.
